


Unleashed

by kutsushita



Category: MythBusters RPF
Genre: Animal Transformation, Crack, Dogs, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-20
Updated: 2015-12-20
Packaged: 2018-05-07 20:34:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5470010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kutsushita/pseuds/kutsushita
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No one at M5 quite understands <i>how</i> Adam has become a dog, but it appears to be true.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unleashed

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Toft](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toft/gifts).



It's another ordinary morning at the shop, except when Jamie walks past Adam's office there's a strange dog sitting in Adam's chair. It's made stranger because the dog is actually sitting _in_ the chair, rather than on the floor where you'd generally expect a dog to be.

The dog barks at him excitedly several times but doesn't leave its spot in the chair. It looks like some kind of golden mixed with a hound, medium-length orange-yellow fur and long floppy ears. The dog starts nosing things around on Adam's desk, and Jamie considers going in and trying to stop it (he'd be really annoyed if a dog messed up _his_ work space), but then he thinks Adam probably got this new dog, brought it into work and left it here in his office without telling anyone, so it's really Adam's problem, not his. Besides, the dog is only messing up Adam's things.

Jamie ignores the barking that follows him as he continues down the hall. They're stuck in the middle of a build for their current myth and he wants to have some time by himself in the shop to fiddle with things before the cameras start rolling for the day.

Adam's not in the shop, and Jamie thinks that's a little weird, given that his new dog is here so he must be around somewhere, but obviously wasn't in his office, either. Jamie shrugs it off and gets to work. He's appreciating the uncharacteristic peace and quiet, finally making some progress on his designs, when one of the crew pops around the corner and asks, "Uh, Jamie, have you seen the dog in Adam's office?"

Jamie looks up and frowns. The question was posed in an extremely nervous tone of voice. Had the dog caused some kind of huge mess? He probably shouldn't have left it alone in there after all. "Yeah, this morning. Have you seen Adam? He knows I'm not okay with leaving pets unattended around the shop."

"Well, uh..." The crew member fidgets anxiously. "That's the thing. Apparently that dog _is_ Adam."

ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

No one at M5 quite understands _how_ Adam has become a dog, but it appears to be true. There's the matter of the dog rearranging the items on Adam's desk to spell "IM ADAM," the security footage of Adam arriving at the shop that morning and not being seen leaving, plus something about the dog just _seems_ like Adam, now that they're all aware of it. They establish a rudimentary communication system (bark once for yes, bark twice for no) are are able to confirm that:

-Yes, the dog claims to be Adam Savage.  
-No, he doesn't know how or why he turned into a dog.  
-The apparent change happened in Adam's office shortly after he arrived at the shop.  
-He's not in any pain.  
-He has no idea how to turn back into a human.

But the yes/no system gets kind of frustrating pretty quickly, so they start to brainstorm other solutions. "We'll need to build some kind of device to let you communicate," Jamie says. "How about some kind of pressure keyboard? We'll hook it up to a computer, and you can step on the letters and it'll print out on the screen."

Adam barks once, wagging his tail excitedly, so Jamie gets to work. He's got parts he can recycle from other builds for this, it's just a matter of setting up the computer input properly. Shouldn't be much of a problem.

"Oh," he realizes about half an hour later, "we should probably figure out how accurate you are."

The crew draws circular targets on the pressure mat to determine how accurate Adam can be with his paw presses, so they'll know how much of a gap to leave in between their makeshift "keys." After that there's not much need for Adam while Jamie gets everything put together. He manages to stay still an impressive amount of time, given that he's both Adam _and_ a dog, but eventually he starts wandering around the shop, sniffing nearly everything and wagging his tail excitedly.

Jamie tries to stay focused on the build, but the dog's wandering distracts him and he keeps looking up to eye him warily. It's not necessarily that he doesn't believe the dog is Adam, although he may not be completely convinced. He'd keep an eye on a restless and aimlessly wandering Adam even if he were human. Maybe even more so, given the greater vertical reach and opposable thumbs.

But Adam doesn't break anything, seeming content to stick his nose into everything he finds, including members of the crew, who tentatively start trying to pet him. Adam seems pretty enthusiastic about it, and some of the crew members really start getting into it. Jamie looks away, feeling a little embarrassed when Adam ends up on his back squirming around with several crew scratching his belly.

He's just about got the dog keyboard finished when one of the crew rushes in with a telephone call from the producers.

ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

It turns out not only is suddenly turning into a dog not unprecedented, it's actually covered in some clause of their labyrinthine insurance policy. "Apparently it should clear up in about a week," one of the producers explains, "but for insurance reasons it's very important that he be monitored by someone from the crew until that time, so one of you will need to take him home. And since we've got this opportunity, we thought it might be best to table the myths you were working on for now and tackle some things specifically related to dogs and animal transformations instead. Obviously you've tested dog myths before but now you can get really specific feedback on a dog's senses and physical abilities. Really take that bone and run with it!"

Jamie doesn't dignify that with even a snort of laughter.

The crew dubs it "Dog Week" and begins researching myths they can test. Jamie finishes building the dog keyboard, and Adam wags his tail excitedly as he trots over to test it out.

"THIS NOSE IS AMAZING" is the first thing he types out.

That does get a snort of laughter out of Jamie. He feels a little surprised too. It really is Adam, after all. "Well, we'll definitely test some smell myths," he says. "Probably dog food taste tests too. They're coming up with a list."

Adam paws methodically at the keyboard again, and Jamie waits patiently as the letters show up on the screen. It's so different from what he's usually used to with Adam. All that barely-contained energy is still there, maybe even more apparent now, but the communication is so slow, unlike the usual barrage of rapid-fire ideas his co-host slings at him.

If you'd asked Jamie before whether he'd like a quieter and slower Adam, he'd have said yes. But right now, it makes him feel kind of anxious.

ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

After a long day, it's finally time to decide who will take Adam home during his tenure as a dog. There's some discussion, but when they ask Adam he slowly types out "ILL STICK WITH HYNEMAN." Jamie's a little surprised, but he guesses he can't really say no to someone who's stuck as a dog. Still, he feels a little weird about it, because he hasn't even had Adam over to his house much as a human, plus he's not sure if it'll freak out Zero and Two.

But everything turns out fine. Adam sticks his head out the window on the ride home in Jamie's truck, looking for all the world like a regular dog. Zero and Two seem fine with him too, sniffing him eagerly and wagging their tails.

"Uh, this is the guest room," Jamie says, giving Adam a tour of house. He's been over before, but not into every room.

Adam barks twice, then lowers his head slightly. Jamie stares at him. He'd have thought it'd be even harder to figuring out what Adam was feeling without words to communicate, but somehow something about his current form makes it easy.

"Well..." Jamie drawls slowly, thoughtfully. "I've got an extra dog bed somewhere, if you want. I could put it out next to Zero and Two in my room."

Adam's head comes up and he barks once, wagging his tail.

"Okay," Jamie says. It makes sense. Adam likes being around people. Jamie wonders if being a dog has heightened those feelings at all, if Adam feels some sort of pack instinct. Then he thinks to himself, _I wonder if I'm part of Adam's pack?_ which makes him feel dumb as soon as he thinks it. He shoves it out of his mind and goes to get the dog bed.

ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

Dog Week progresses and they fall into a new routine. 

The quiet is still weird. When Adam's a human and they're both in the shop, Jamie's used to the constant noise and occasional muttered swearing that floats over from Adam's work area. Now, Adam sticks to Jamie and is mostly silent. He barks if he needs someone's attention, the pressure keyboard close by so he can type if he has something to say. But mainly he sits watching Jamie work. Well, he alternates between sitting and standing, tail wagging, before shifting back into sitting again. Sometimes he lies down on the floor too. It's Adam's pent-up energy in dog form; an inability to stay still.

Jamie's working on the build for testing colorblindness and it's nothing complicated, mostly artistic work to make it look nice for the viewers. So he and Adam don't need to discuss how to make it work, and Adam is quiet next to him, but shifting impatiently between various positions. It's a little distracting, and Jamie absent-mindedly reaches out to calm Adam down by scratching him behind the ears. He's enjoying the feel of the soft fur, and the fact that Adam has stopped fidgeting, and then Jamie freezes. He wasn't really paying attention, and for a moment he forgot and thought it was one of his dogs sitting there.

"Uh, sorry," he says after a beat, pulling his hand back stiffly. But Adam barks at him twice, and pushes his head up into Jamie's retreating palm.

Jamie's face is red, and it's stupid. It's not like all the other crew members haven't been petting dog Adam this whole time. Two barks for no, so he guesses Adam is telling him, "No, don't be sorry." But Jamie can't help thinking of the real human Adam, which just makes this weird. Even if Adam's current fur feels pretty pleasant to pet.

Adam barks twice again, and Jamie swears he can hear the human annoyance in it. Adam starts walking over to the keyboard to type something, and Jamie says, "Fine, come back already." Adam practically bounds back to him, eyes bright and tail awag. It's not a big deal, Jamie tells himself, and besides, it's just Adam after all. It's not like the two of them have ever had a normal working relationship.

ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

Adam turns back in the middle of the night after nine days. Jamie discovers this after he's startled awake by a hand shaking his shoulder.

"Jamie, hey." Adam yawns, scratching sleepily at his hair, and Jamie just stares, stupid with sleep. Adam's wearing his normal work clothes, so Jamie guesses he must have transformed back still wearing them. Well, they never found any of clothes lying around the shop when he turned into a dog, so he guesses that makes sense.

He realizes he's still staring, and clears his throat. "Uh. Welcome back."

"Yeah." Adam laughs a little slower and deeper than his usual. His voice sounds kind of thick too, and he yawns. "Hey, buddy, sorry for waking you up in the middle of the night, but I figured you'd want to know. And maybe you'd want to get me out of your house?" He laughs again.

Jamie's confused. "I showed you the guest bedroom." Well, maybe Adam really wants to sleep in his own bed again after being stuck as a dog for a week. But Jamie really doesn't want to get up and drive right now, still half-asleep.

"Oh. Ha! Is that, uh, is that all right with you? If I crash here, then?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" He doesn't really know what Adam thinks the problem is, but he doesn't care enough to try to figure it out right now. Jamie turns over on his side and pulls the blankets back up, settling in and closing his eyes. "There's extra bedding in the hall closet."

There's a pause before Adam replies a little more quietly, "Sure! Thanks, man. Night, Jamie." Jamie listens to him pad out of the room and close the door, and falls back asleep in a matter of minutes.

ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

In the morning Jamie wakes up and looks over to check on the dogs, and is startled for a moment by the thought that one of them is missing. And then he remembers: Adam transformed back in the middle of the night. Good thing it wasn't just a dream. Two is up and wagging her tail and walking over to the bed to greet him, and Jamie scratches her behind the ears before getting up to check on his houseguest.

Adam's curled on his side on the guest bed, facing away from the open door. His t-shirt is bunched up above his boxers, revealing the small of his back, and Jamie feels a little bothered, though he doesn't know why. It's not like he hasn't seen Adam sleeping dozens of times.

Jamie raps loudly on the door frame, and Adam stirs and mumbles, "Wuzzat?"

"Wakey-wakey time, Adam," says Jamie. "If you make it to the kitchen in ten minutes I'll give you some actual human food."

Adam arrives in the kitchen yawning and looking a little bleary, but otherwise he looks fine. "Oh god," he says, perking up a bit at the spread on the table. "Is that bacon?" He drops into a chair and grabs a piece, moaning lightly as he chews it slowly. "Hyneman, thank god. You have no idea how sick I was of all that dog food."

Jamie feels a little spike of pleasure at watching Adam so blissfully dig into the food. "Eat up," he says. "After this, your days of mooching off me are over."

Adam tries to retort, but his mouth is too full of bacon and eggs to understand anything.

ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

They drive in to M5, and the crew is excited to see Adam returned to his normal human self. Adam calls the insurance company to report that he's all in one piece. The producers at Discovery seem a bit disappointed, wishing they'd had more time to continue testing dog myths. Adam has to put up with dog jokes and several dog-themed gag gifts from crew, but he takes it all with good humor. "Though I'm not sure Discovery will be all right with me wearing it on the show," he jokes after modeling the studded choker collar to the crew's great delight.

After another week the dog quips mostly die down and they've moved on to canine-unrelated myths for a new episode. Jamie and Adam are staying late in the shop, tweaking a finicky build for the myth they're testing tomorrow, and Adam's kneeling down next to the piece of equipment, making some hopefully final adjustments.

"Okay," he says, looking up at Jamie, hands braced on the front of his thighs. "Try it again now."

Jamie tries it, and it finally works. Adam gives a celebratory shout and pumps his fist in the air, still kneeling on the floor. Jamie feels that familiar giddy swell of satisfaction in his chest at getting it right, and without really thinking he reaches out and ruffles Adam's hair. Then his brain catches up with what his hand is doing and he freezes, hand still resting against the curve of Adam's skull.

He makes himself look down and make eye contact, because what, it's not a big deal, it's not like they never touch each other, even if it's not a usual thing. Adam's peering up at him with a kind of inquisitive look in his eyes, like he gets when he's just started to research some new myth for the show. He doesn't look upset, at least.

"Did you forget and think I was still a dog for a second there?" asks Adam, teasing but not unkind, and maybe genuinely curious.

Jamie's whole body relaxes a little. If it's a not a big deal for either of them, then it's not a big deal. "Yeah," he says. His hand still resting in place. Adam's hair isn't as soft as his fur had been as a dog, and the texture is totally different, but it still feels kinda nice.

"Well, I don't really mind," says Adam. Takes a breath, and continues, "I kinda missed it, actually. But I figured if I said that you'd get all weird and embarrassed." A small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth.

Jamie feels a little hot, but he stubbornly tells himself he is not at all embarrassed. "Don't be stupid," he says. He moves his fingers again, scritching Adam roughly behind the ear, and Adam laughs and closes his eyes and presses his head slightly into the touch. Jamie finishes scritching him and pulls his hand away, and Adam beams a wide grin at him before stretching his back and groaning and bending to push himself up to his feet.

They're both on their way out, having closed up the shop, and Jamie pauses at the door to his truck while Adam's walking over to his Jeep. "Hey Adam," Jamie calls out, and Adam turns to look inquisitively over his shoulder at him.

"Maybe I'll start keeping a box of treats in the shop to give you when you're good," Jamie blurts before he can talk himself down. The back of his neck feels hot.

Adam laughs and grins at him at the same time. Jamie can kind of see a little of the dog he'd been for a while in his face when he makes that expression, mouth pulled open wide and teeth showing.

"Trying to train me, Hyneman?" Adam quips. "Do you think that'll work on me now that I'm not a dog any more?"

"Guess we'll have to test it," Jamie replies.

Jamie lets Adam pull out of the lot first and then follows, the two of them driving home into the sunset.

**Author's Note:**

> [Dog Adam visual reference](http://www.dogbreedplus.com/dog_breeds/basset_retriever.php)


End file.
